SAN ANDREAS - Once, Astra might have been euthanized after her career was over.

But thanks to an adoption program for military working dogs, Astra will retire to a farm in upstate New York with Army Sgt. Pamela Collen of Angels Camp, the handler she worked with during seven years and two deployments to Iraq.

"She was with me when we were away from homeland for the first time; she was with me through my divorce; she saved my life I don't know how many times; she is what made the Army worth it for me and the reason I re-enlisted," Collen said of Astra.

Astra is a Belgian Malinois, a breed known for being strong willed, Collen said. Combine that with the traumas of war, which can damage dogs as well as humans, and there's the potential that a dog won't be able to return to civilian life.

"A lot of them had to be euthanized because (military officials) weren't sure what to do with them," Collen said of military working dogs.

For one thing, potential adopters will need to know how to work with dogs who in addition to learning how to find bombs or drugs also learned to protect their handlers, if necessary by attacking an enemy.

"Sometimes they are dangerous because of it," Collen said.

Collen started working with animals as a child growing up in Calaveras County, riding horses and helping her father with work on his cattle ranch.

"I participated at the Calaveras County fair and won my first buckle in team penning," Collen said.

She was a cheerleader at Bret Harte Union High School in Angels Camp, but graduated in 2003 from Mountain Oaks Charter School in San Andreas. During her time at Mountain Oaks, Collen said she focused on improving her equestrian skills. She joined the Army in 2005.

Now 27, Collen said she soon expects to receive a medical discharge as the result of an injury she suffered.

"My husband and I are moving to upstate New York to open a board and training facility for dogs and horses," Collen said. Astra will go with her.

Collen is assigned to the 163rd Military Police Detachment, 716th MP Battalion in Fort Campbell, Ky. That battalion is part of the 16th Military Police Brigade headquartered in Fort Bragg, N.C.

But it was at Lackland Air Force Base where her relationship with Astra began. Fort Campbell asked for volunteers to join the military dog program. Collen signed up and in March 2007 went to San Antonio to train.

"I came home with Astra."

Lackland is where the Department of Defense bases its breeding and training program for working dogs for all branches of the military. At any given time, there are about 950 to 1,000 puppies and dogs at Lackland, with about 500 to 600 dogs deployed to military services and police agencies around the world.

Collen said that on their very first mission in Iraq, Astra found an explosive device weighing more than 60 pounds.

"Astra is like my best friend," said Collen, who also has a horse and a great Dane.

Bringing Astra into family life meant adjustment for both dogs and humans. Her great Dane had to accept that Astra would be dominant. And Collen's husband, Adam, found that Astra doesn't give him the same high status that he gives to Collen.

Still, everyone is getting along.

"This morning I woke up and (Astra) was lying between the two of us and she had her head on (Adam's) shoulder."

A law in 2000 made it possible to adopt military working dogs. The majority of military working dogs put up for adoption are younger animals who were raised and trained but did not meet standards to be certified as a military working dog and were also not selected for use by a civilian law enforcement agency.

In recent years, there has also been an effort to provide for the smaller number of military dogs who have served in the field and need to retire and find a new home.

Over the past two years, 23 former military working dogs from the 16th Military Police Brigade have been adopted to forever homes. And the program is open to civilians as well as military personnel.

"If anybody else is interested in adopting a military working dog, they can go to the Lackland Air Force Base website and get information there on adopting the dogs," Collen said.